First Impression: Barriba Cantina is definitely for tourists

Street food, specifically Mexican street food, is the inspiration and template for the menu at Barriba Cantina, the new restaurant in the former Starbucks space at 111 W. Crockett St. The restaurant with a balcony overlooking the River Walk opened this week.

For me, after two visits, there is a great deal of ambivalence towards Barriba. There is some good, and some bad, but the one aspect that completely overshadows everything else is the price.

It’s expensive. Really expensive. Beyond price gouging expensive. An order of tacos — three to an order — is $10.

The first trip, I owed a co-worker dinner, and so for two orders of mini tacos, chips and salsa and one tea (I had water; no alcohol was involved) and it came out to $27.

The second visit I had an order of tacos, a Dos Equis, a guacamole appetizer and a Dos-a-Rita-esque schooner thing and the bill was $38.

I didn’t feel as cheated on the second trip because the Dos-a-Rita-esque schooner thing — at Barriba, it’s called the Gallo Borracho — is a beer in a margarita for $12.50 and it does the trick just fine. But that first visit: six tacos, chips and salsa and a tea for nearly $30 is just … if you’re going to gouge, then gouge. Don’t scrape at the cavity. No sir (finger wag)!

At least, this is from a local’s perspective. And that’s the thing. Barriba is not intended for locals. And the proof is on the menu. Next to some of the selections are the pronunciations in parenthesis. For example, next to the Gallo Borracho is “(Guy-yo Boar-ra-cho).”

Barriba Cantina opened this week at 111 W. Crockett St.

But how are the tacos? They’re good. Not mind-blowingly good. Not even very good. Just plain good. Whatever the lead ingredient — pork carnitas or chicken — it gets lost in all of accessories. It’s less of a leading ingredient and more of an ensemble with other stuff in the taco. For example, the Mango Pork Carnita tacos are topped with “mango and avocado tomatillo salsas, corn pico de gallo and pickled onions topped with ancho sauce and cotija cheese.” Um, what happened to the carnitas? Remember, it’s just meat over fire, onion either grilled or pickled, the cheese and cilantro in a tortilla — boom, you’re done. The tacos lack simplicity.

And then it dawned on me. Here we have a Mexican street food-inspired restaurant. The other one around these parts is La Gloria, which I’m not a huge fan of. But what we need is actual street food. Can someone get on that — Councilman Bernal, someone — in changing the street vendor ordinance?

To be fair, the service on both visits was impeccable. Unlike the food, which is just trying too hard, the service is not overwhelming. It was the perfect amount of attention. They really have the customer service thing down pat, but then again there was a surplus of waiters and servers and three people at the door with warm smiles. I’m telling you, the customer service kicks ass.

Another positive was the go-to salsa. It’s excellent. It has a genuine kick going on which, if it left an impression on me, it will certainly with tourists. It could use a few more pulses in the food processor, but other than it’s a bit chunky for me, it’s really tasty and, most importantly, hot.

There are drinks galore. Margaritas. Fruit-infused, frozen -ita things. Varieties and varieties of itas. And classic cocktails. Yes, on the drink menu of this Mexican food restaurant, there is a French 75. I’m not complaining, it’s just odd. And, of course, beer, which is River Walk-priced; cheapest being $4 for a domestic bottle.

For those who remember the Starbucks, you will notice the general shape of the space, but that’s about it. A great deal of effort went into the decor, which looks nice, but, like the food, resembles nothing about San Antonio. There are out-of-the-box luchador masks and prayer candles. Not a rusty license plate nor gaudy neon beer sign in sight.

But if I can zero in on the bar: it’s beautiful. It’s J-shaped and has a sleek retro thing going on. It reminds me of this lounge in Portland called the Doug Fir, which will mean nothing to most of you. But the point is, the bar itself is really cool. Again, completely off the San Antonio mark, but nice nonetheless.

This is Barriba’s first week, and again, they’re doing a great job with the customer service, and the food’s OK. But the prices need to come down if they’re going to attract locals. I remember Esquire’s first week of its relaunch, when Miller Lite was $5. They’ve since come down to $3.

Hey, downtown’s pricey. I get it. Rents are ridiculously high. And there’s a reason there are few everyday eating options here. Barriba is not an anomaly. It’s the River Walk norm. Which is why I’m disappointed. I was hoping it was going to be one of the few exceptions.